Adam Scott with Wife Friends with Kids Premiere - H 2012
Toby Canham/Getty ImagesAdam Scott and his wife Naomi, a former Jimmy Kimmel Live! producer, are getting into business together.
The pair has launched Gettin’ Rad Productions, a name that is “both stupid and aspirational,” according to the Parks and Recreation star. Their first project, a 15-minute special titled The Greatest Event in Television History, aired Oct. 11 on Adult Swim and quickly went viral. Through GRP, the Scotts have plans to produce at least three more specials in a similar vein for the cable network.
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The quirky effort, which was filmed over a 4 1/2-day period in February, chronicled Adam Scott and Mad Men’s Jon Hamm in their attempt to re-create the opening sequence of CBS’ long-running 1980s detective series Simon & Simon. Paul Rudd, Kathryn Hahn, writer Paul Scheer and host Jeff Probst also appeared in the heavily hyped special, which Adam Scott co-directed with Lance Bangs.
The idea was born out of an e-mail exchange between Hamm and Scott in which the two were sending credit sequences from different shows back and forth. “We e-mailed each other Simon & Simon at the exact same time, and I said, ‘We should do a shot-for-shot remake of this,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, totally,’ ” recalls Scott. Unbeknownst to Hamm, Scott and his wife pitched the remake idea to Adult Swim’s then-head Nick Weidenfeld, who bit. “I had to call Jon up and say, ‘Hey, remember that sort of conversation we were having when you said you would want to do this? How about we actually do it?’ ”
The Scotts say they have yet to decide which TV credit sequences to tackle next but are actively searching for ideas. Of interest are series that haven’t been heavily tread upon. To hear him tell it, that was one of the big appeals of taking on the now-semi-obscure Simon & Simon. He adds, “That and it was a boyhood fantasy of mine to do that tumble in the grass and fire a gun.” The special garnered a 1.4 rating among the 18-34 demo in its midnight time slot, performing particularly well with Adult Swim’s younger male target.
VIDEO: ‘The Greatest Event in Television History’: Adam Scott and Jon Hamm are ‘Simon & Simon’
Looking ahead, the Scotts, who are big TV watchers and parents of two young kids, are eager to explore other television ideas in comedy and reality, too, though she shoots down any plans to turn the camera on themselves. “We’re terribly boring. That would never work,” Naomi Scott quips of a Scotts-centered reality show.
Over on the big screen, their GRP has optioned Chuck Klosterman’s first novel, Downtown Owl, with Oren Uziel (The Kitchen Sink) attached to write it. “It’s lovely and moving and funny,” says Adam Scott, noting that he has been a fan of Klosterman’s work for some time. “We just thought it’s a really great story about people that I relate to but also small enough that it would make a good first film out of the gate for us.”
GRP is repped by WME and attorney Wendy Heller; Adam Scott, whose upcoming film credits include The Guilt Trip, A.C.O.D. and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, is also repped by Untitled for acting.
Email: Lacey.Rose@THR.com; Twitter: @LaceyVRose
